CIDA President Commends CCFC

The President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Margaret Biggs, has commended Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) for their work in the north.  She said that CCFC’s work shows what can be achieved when Canada collaborates with Ghana.

The CIDA President made the comments when a team from CIDA accompanied by the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, Darren Schemmer, paid a visit to a women’s shea butter pressing project in Kanvilli. The project was co-funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and CCFC Canada and implemented by Markaz Al Bishara, a partner organization of CCFC.

Margaret Biggs stated that the project shows what women can do when they take charge of their lives and it also showed what they can do when they group together as partners on behalf of their families.  She wished the women success in their endeavors and in the marketing of their products.

The CIDA team also comprised Christine Hogan, Vice President for CIDA, Barbara Brown, Head of Programs for West and Central Africa of CIDA, Michael Gort, Director of Development Co-operation of CIDA Ghana, Janice McDonald, Deputy Director of Development Co-operation of CIDA Ghana and Vida Assum-Buti, Senior development Officer of CIDA Ghana.

The Canadian High Commissioner, Darren Schemmer on his part lauded the spirit of hard work exhibited by the over thirty women working under the Kanvilli shea butter processing project.  He expressed his happiness at the site of professionalism shown by the women in processing the shea nuts from the early stages to the end product.

Briefing the visiting Canadian team, the Country Director of CCFC Ghana, Mrs. Nantogmah Sanatu, said that the establishment of the Micro Enterprise Development (MED) project under CCFC sought to minimize money wastage by avoiding exorbitant interest rates in the villages, provide better access to credit, revitalize indigenous mutual support systems and set up a common fund to provide better access to credit. She stated that it was also intended to improve the health and living conditions of families and provide a regular source of income for women.  

The Kanvilli Shea Butter Processing Project, a branch of the MED program  under Markaz Al-Bishara, was set up at a cost of about 1,400 Ghana cedis in 2006.  It is made up of over thirty women under the name Suglo Nboru Buni Shea Butter Processing Group. Through the initiative of the shea butter project, the women have not only improved upon their shea butter making business, but they have also been trained in loan management, records keeping, personal hygiene as well as soap and pomade making. 

 

                              

CCFC Marks World Water Day

Christian Children’s Fund of Canada in collaboration with its partner organisation, Tuma Kavi has organised a hand washing workshop for over 100 members of its Child to Child Health and Environmental clubs drawn from three communities in the Savelugu Nanton district in order to mark World Water Day.

The day which was marked under the theme “Sanitation Matters” was used to highlight the importance of keeping our environment clean.  World water day is a day set aside to bring global and local attention to issues of water stress,water-related disasters and poor water quality. Lack of safe water and adequate sanitation is the world’s single largest cause of illness. World Water Day is a therefore a unique opporturnity  to draw attention to the crisis and to create momentum that compels goverments, the international community, civil society and individuals to take action.

Over 2.6 billion people, including 980 million children, live without proper sanitation and every 20 seconds on average, a child dies as a direct result.  Poor basic hygeeine practices, especially among children, are a major contributing factor to these deaths. Diarrhieal diseases, a direct result of poor sanitation and hygiene, kill over 1 million children every year. Simple, proper hand-washing with water and soap or ash can reduce the incidence of the disease by up to 50 percent.

The children were taught lessons on proper hand washing techniques, lessons on the use of new hand washing stations before eating and lessons on how to build low cost hand washing stations.  The aim was to let them act as catalyst for initiating student-led suatainable hand washing programs in schools and reduce the incidence of diarrhoea.

Speaking to the particiapants of the workshop, the Leader of the District Health and Sanitation Team of Savelugu-Nanton district, S.I Tahiru, reminded the children to keep their environment clean and to always wash their hands regularly.

The Team Leader said not only was it important for them to wash their hands regularly but also wash their hands with soap, most especially after visiting the toilet.  He said if they washed their hands properly with soap, they would reduce the diseases that affected them by 30 percent.

The Country Director of Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), Sanatu Nantogma said that children are the top priority of CCFC and so the organisation shall consistently advocate for the right of children through providing their needs, protecting them against abuse of any form and making them participate in decisions and actions that affect them.

She stated that “encouraging children to wash hands as it is being done today is a step towards reducing dysentery, diarrhoea and trachoma, which are water borne and water related diseases”.  The Country Director added that choosing a day as today to hold this workshop for the Child To Child (CTC) groups is a very good way of commemorating World Water Day, especially focusing on children as a way of propagating the message on sanitation and hand washing.

At the end of the workshop, CTC groups were given practical lessons on how to wash their hands properly with soap.

 

Children’s Fund Commissions Children’s Centre

The Gushiegu District Director of Education in Ghana, Edward Asakya, has commended the Christian Children Fund of Canada (CCFC) for complementing government efforts in the development of education in the district. He said government alone cannot shoulder the responsibility of providing educational infrastructure and so it is in the right direction that CCFC is supporting government.  He made the remarks at the commissioning of a 36,477.00 Ghana cedis Bill Proctor Children's Center in Kutung in the Gushiegu District.  The facility is also endowed with two rain water harvesting tanks, play equipment, furniture and a feeding center where the children would be provided with a meal a day.

In an address, the Country Director of CCFC Ghana, Mrs Sanatu Nantugma said the aim of her outfit is to address the needs of children in deprived areas. She noted that the Millennium Development Goal number two seeks to achieve a universal primary education through ensuring that all girls and boys complete a full course of primary education.  She added that it is for this reason that CCFC in collaboration with Markaz Al-Bishara, a local partner NGO of CCFC, have come to the aid of the people of Kutung to promote the achievement of the MDGs in Kutung.  Madam Sanatu noted that Kutung and its environs in the Gushiegu District are plagued with myriad of developmental problems such as low illiteracy rate due to lack of proper educational facilities, lack of safe drinking water among others. The Country Director disclosed that the center was funded by a Canadian Philanthropist couple in memory of their late son, Bill Proctor.

In a speech read on behalf his behalf by a representative, the District Chief Executive of Gushiegu District, Abukari Mahama said education is the key to the development of any nation and the children of Kutung can not have a secured future if they are not educated. He added that it is therefore essential and vital for children to be targeted so that they can develop and contribute their quota to the development of the country. The DCE charged the people of Kutung to take the opportunity offered them by CCFC and produce the future doctors, engineers and other professionals that the nation needs.

The chief of Kutung, Yakubu Adam on his part thanked CCFC for the numerous support they have offered his community and appealed to other NGO to emulate the example shown by CCFC.

The DCE's representative later inaugurated a Child to Child Health Club and cut the tape to commission the school.

CCFC Improves Education In Tolon

The District Director of Ghana Education Service in Tolon-Kumbungu of the Northern Region, Yakuba Assani, has praised Christian Children's Fund of Canada, a Canadian based registered charity and child-centered international development organization, for her immense contribution to educational development in the district. 

“I have been tracking the improvement of Kasuliyili in the BECE results and I have seen that with each passing year, the school children are continuing to do better and better.  For 2008, Kasuliyili presented 50 candidates with 47 passing completely and for the first time, 31 students gained admission into senior high schools”, the District Director disclosed.

Yakubu Assani made these comments when Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) in conjunction with its partner organization, Baptist Child Development Program, made a presentation of educational materials, worth over GHC 9.500.00, to about 600 school children in 5 community schools of the Tolon Kumbungu district.  The beneficiary communities are Kasuliyili, Zali, Kunguri, Wantugu, and Lingbun Kundaa.

He stated that for instance, Kasuliyili in 2006 presented 37 candidates, out of which 70 percent passed completely and placed 13^th among schools in the district.  The district director also said that in 2007, Kasuliyili presented 47 candidates, out of which 85.1 passed completely and placed 9^th among schools in the district.

The Country Director of CCFC, Mrs. Sanatu Nantogma on her part said that it has become “a yearly affair for Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) and its partner, Baptist Child Development Program to offer support to schools and school children in the Kasuyili area.  We are doing this because we are committed to promoting education among deprived communities and to meeting the objectives of MDG 2, which seeks to achieve universal primary education for all by 2015”.

Mrs. Sanatu Nantogma stated it should however not be taken for granted that CCFC’s assistance to schools will continue to come. She said that a time will come in the future when this support will cease.  The Country Director said that CCFC had identified a gap in education in the areas of Early Childhood Development and Youth Skill Development and was therefore taking steps towards solving the gap in the not too distant future.  She therefore urged members of the communities, to start putting in place alternatives ways of supporting their children in school long after CCFC’s support had ceased. 

In a welcome address, the Program Coordinator for Baptist Child Development Program (BCDP), James Amadu, said that CCFC through BCDP is currently supporting 13 volunteer in the UTTDBE program, paying the fees for 46 students in SHS and Nurses Training Colleges, paying the monthly allowances for 11 volunteer teachers as well as presenting school supplies to the schools in the area. 

He said the school supplies included 8000 Note 1 books, 6000 ‘A’ series, pens, pencils, library books, school uniforms and tables. The Coordinator advised the children to utilise the items judiciously.

Over 425 School Girls Receive Hygiene Kits

Over 425 school girls in about 20 communities, aged between 13 and 20, have each received a hygiene kit at a total cost of 5, 362.00 Ghana Cedis from Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC), a Canadian based registered charity and child-centered international development organization.

 

The aim of the hygiene kit project is to increase personal hygiene among teenage girls in Senior Primary and Junior High Schools and to increase awareness of proper hygiene behaviors among the teenage girls within CCFC’s operational areas. It also seeks to transform knowledge into behavior by actively following up with the beneficiaries.

CCFC made the donations through five of its partner organizations located in the Tamale Metropolis, Savelugu-Nanton, Tolon-Kumbungu, East Gonja and Nanumba North districts.  Each girl received cakes of soap, a tooth brush, tooth paste, a nail clipper, a shaving stick, pockets of razor blades, sanitary pads and Dettol (disinfectant).

Interacting with the girls in the Tamale Metropolis, the Country Director of CCFC, Mrs. Sanatu Nantogma advised them to keep their bodies and surroundings clean, shave their pubic hair and trim their nails regularly, take their bath and wash their mouths everyday as well as keep themselves clean during menstruation. The Country Director also educated them on good community sanitation practices, prevention of teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. She admonished them not to litter the environment after use of the hygiene products but dispose of them in an environmentally friendly manner.

 

After receiving her hygiene kit, 19 year old form three student of Kalpohine Anglican JHS, Abdulai Fawzia disclosed that she was more than pleased to have received the kit. She thanked CCFC for the education on personal hygiene that was given to her.  Fawzia said that before this she had limited knowledge of personal hygiene and therefore engaged in unsafe personal hygiene practices such as sharing nail clippers with friends.  She revealed that due to her poor personal hygiene practice, her confidence in school was always low and this affected her academic performance.  

 

CCFC hopes that the project will help the girls improve their personal hygiene and hence their confidence in their communities, improve their participation in community activities, motivate them to continue to improve their personal hygiene and encourage them to teach their peers and siblings about personal hygiene.    

CCFC Donates Educational Material to Needy Schools

Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), an International Non- Governmental Organization, has donated educational items worth over ten thousand Ghana Cedis to some needy schools and girls in nine districts of the northern region.

The items, which were presented to five partner organizations of CCFC, included 34 bicycles, 58 tables, 91 chairs, 185 desks, 3 teachers’ desks, 3 cabinets, 12 blackboards, 50 boxes of toys, 158 boxes of text books & supplies and 13 boxes of sporting equipment.

Speaking on behalf of the Country Director of the CCFC, Mrs. Sanatu Nantogma, the Grants and Projects Manager of CCFC, Sulley David, said the bicycles are especially meant for needy girls who travel long distances in their Communities to go to School. She noted that “…this is aimed at achieving the Millennium Development Goal number three which seeks to eliminate gender disparity in education”.

He said CCFC reaches out to needy Children, Families and Communities of all faith across the World, to demonstrate Christ love.

A representative of the Regional Education Directorate of Education, Hajia Agnes Ali commended CCFC for their efforts, saying girls usually delay a lot at home doing household chores while some of them travel incredible distances to school. Therefore the bicycles will encourage the beneficiary girls to stay in School.

The Programs Manager of CCFC Paul Kofi Twene handed over the items to the representative of the Northern Region Director of Ghana Education Service in a presentation ceremony held in Tamale.

Receiving the items from Madam Agnes Ali on behalf of the partner organizations of CCFC, the Program Coordinator of Presbyterian Farmers’ Training and Child Development Program, Eric Chimsi thanked CCFC for the donations which is meant to assist very needy girls in getting to school but also assured that the partner programs would do well to let the items get to the intended beneficiaries.

World Vision Brings Changes to Gbumgbum

The name Gbumgbum might be a little cumbersome to pronounce, but the village that goes by it has surely witnessed some transformation ever since World Vision (WV) started operations in the community.
"This place was in complete darkness but since World Vision came here, it has become complete light," declared Abdulai Adam, regent of Gbumgbum when the National Director of World Vision Ghana, Nerquaye Tetteh, visited his community to see things for himself.
Saibu Osman (30) of Gbumgbum also agrees with the regent's assertion. He has just returned from his farm, located about half a mile away from the community. "If I told you all the transformation that World Vision has brought to this community, you would not be able to write it all", he says. Osman, who has 2 wives and 5 children, is a farmer and is happy with World Vision’s presence in Gbumgbum.
"Before World Vision came, our way of living in this village was bad. We had no potable drinking water and we used to drink water from ponds and streams which gave us guineaworm. Our environment was always dirty leading to a high incidence of diseases such as malaria. People in this village did not also have any regard for education because the school facilities were poor and so there was no encouragement to send children to school. Again, our women had no way of surviving because they could not get financial help from any where", declares Osman as we sit under a tree in front of his home in the centre of Gbumgbum.
Gbumgbum is a beautiful community located about 9 kilometers from Savelugu, the district. Capital of Savelugu-Nanton district, with a population of about 68 I people.
Osman's son, Jafaru Saibu (8), is also a beneficiary of the changes that World Vision has brought to the community. "I can now learn comfortably in our new classroom instead of the overcrowded old classroom we used to have and I don't have to worry about missing classes due to guineaworm", Jafaru discloses, as be changes out of his school uniform provided by World Vision, after close of school. He attends "Nsim Niboma­ nursery school, which means "friend in development. World Vision built the three-classroom nursery with funds provided by ‘Telford Foundation' in the USA.
The nursery school, which can house about 180 children, currently accommodates about 90 nursery children. As a result, a section of the primary school is occupying part of the nursery school block while awaiting the completion of their primary school. There has been significant improvement in the enrolment in the nursery ever since the block was completed. Before the school was built, the total number of school children in Gbumgbum for both nursery and primary was 91 but after the school was constructed, the number of children shot up to 231, with the nursery alone recording about 90 children. Again, before the construction of the school block, the whole school was handled by one teacher. However, World Vision has enlisted the services of four volunteer teachers to teach the children.
In addition to the new nursery, World Vision has provided the community with a borehole, a laundry pad, five Ventilated Improved Latrine Pits and has trained four community members in pump maintenance and repairs as well as nine people in water and sanitation matters.

The ADP is also at an infant stage of providing a six­ classroom primary school block and office for the community.
For now, however, Osman and his 5 children, Jafaru, Afisu. Malik, Maisa and Tayibatu are witnesses to the immense transformation taking place in their home. Each of Osman's two wives, Zailia (30) and Rahinato Saibu (23) are beneficiaries of a credit scheme instituted by World Vision for the women of Gbumgbum.
Last year, the two ladies received 200,000 cedis each with which they purchased three bags of shea nut each and from which they produced shea butter for sale. This year, they received 343,000 cedis each from WV. A total of about 12 million cedis was disbursed in Gbumgbum this year and about six million cedis was disbursed last year to 30 such women in the community.
"I have been able to pay back my loan with interest and the profit I made from the sale of shea butter has been ploughed back into the purchase of one more bag of shea nut." reveals Rahinatu, the youngest of the wives and mother of two.
Zailia (mother of Jafaru) on her pan adds, "Now I can pay my children’s school fees promptly, solve my personal problems and not rely on my husband for money to buy ingredients for the house. The loan has enabled me to provide something for my children to carry to school each morning."
The two women agree that they have benefited a lot from World Vision apart from the loan scheme. They say that World Vision has taught them how to manage money properly, care for their children and homes, understand environmental and personal hygiene and see the importance of moral education.

TBA's schooled in Family Planning and HIV/AIDs

Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC) in conjunction with its partner, Presbyterian Farmers’ Training and Child Development Program (PFTCDP) has organized a five day refresher training course at a total cost of about 15 million cedis for about 22 Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) coming from 17 communities, in Jantong Daboagshie in the East Gonja district of the northern region.

The aim of the workshop was to upgrade the skills of the TBAs in current antenatal and post natal practice and to provide them with the necessary working accoutrements to enable them function well in their communities because they are the first point of contact for pregnant women. The participants were taken through antenatal, the delivery process, post natal, referrals, nutrition, HIV/Aids, family planning and guinea worm education.

Speaking at the closing ceremony to the 5 day training, also witnessed by the head of public healthcare in the East Gonja district, Agnes Atoguba and the Program Coordinator of the Presbyterian Farmers’ Training and Child Development Program, Eric Chimsi, the Country Director of CCFC, Sanatu Nantogma stated that “Today’s’ gathering is just one realisation of CCFC’s plan under health and nutrition”.

She said that in CCFC’s health and nutrition operating plan for 2007/8 with PFTCDP, the hope was to reduce cases of malnutrition and anemia in children from ten (10) communities and to network with communities to promote the health and nutritional status of over 1,300 school children, 250 youth and 750 adults in 10 communities through nutritional assessment and health and nutrition educational campaigns.

The Country Director added that one of the major plans in 2007/08 was to organise training on reproductive health issues, one of which was this training the TBAs had just gone through. She advised the TBAs to be very receptive of their patients and not to charge any fees when they came to utilize their services.

The head of public healthcare in the East Gonja district, Madam Agnes Atoguba on her part congratulated the TBAs for successfully going through the refresher training and informed them that reports reaching the East Gonja district health directorate showed that they were doing very well in their jobs. She told them to put the new skills learnt at the refresher training into practice to the benefit of their patients.

A 22 year old mother, Ashietu Asani was very grateful to Madam Abiba Wontogma, a TBA from Daashie for helping deliver her three month old son, Abdul Wahid Asani.

For now CCFC is sure of healthy births like Abdul Wahid in the 17 communities. Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC) is an international organization which works with local partners in 12 countries around the world to improve the standards of living of over 40,000 children, their needy families and communities. In Africa, CCFC works in four countries namely Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania. It is also a member of the Child Fund Alliance that works in 55 countries of the world to implement child centred development interventions. CCFC was established in Ghana in 1996, with its country office based in Tamale.

Widow Supports Children Through Small Food Business

Despite losing her husband and having to support four children of her own and two orphans, Akopoka Salifu (45) has still found the strength to rise above her hardship to run the "Happy Woman's Chop Bar."
"After the death of my husband, I had to battle it out alone in catering for my children" she says. ..It was difficult feeding and clothing them. The little money I had all went into the payment of their school fees. I had no money left after paying their fees and this affected my ability to take care of my entire household. This almost turned me into a pauper because I sometimes felt like begging to make up for my poverty",
However, Akopoka's desire to survive prompted her to set up the chop bar. This lofty venture engaged her in something profitable and enhanced her capacity to lift her family and herself from the brink of absolute starvation.
“Now, I work through out the day to get something for my children. I wake up every day at 4 a.m. to fetch water for cooking. After this, I set up fire and prepare my food. I usually prepare rice balls, banku (fermented maize meal) and Wakye (rice and beans) every other day which I start selling around 7 a.m. to my customers. I usually sell until the evening ", she reveals.
“Because of this routine work, I hardly have the time to take care of my 4 children and 2 orphans who are all attending school. My younger sister therefore takes care of them whiles I concentrate on the chop bar. This is the only way we can survive".
Despite her bold venture, she has found it difficult running the business effectively and profitably without assistance because she lacks adequate capital. That is why Akopoka is very grateful to World Vision Ghana (WV) in Bongo for the assistance extended to her and some 600 women in Bongo central. She is a member of Alangube women's group, which is benefiting from a credit scheme instituted by World Vision in Bongo.
“It used to be hard for me to manage the bar because I bought my food stuff on credit since J had no initial capital. This had the effect of increasing the price of my food. Consequently, I got very little or no profit at all from my sales", declares Akopoka.
Ever since I got 500 thousand cedis as credit from World Vision Ghana, I no longer buy food stuff on credit and this has improved my profit and family income. This is because the interest rate on the loan is very moderate. I am now able to pay my children's school fees as well as feed, buy clothing and sandals for my six children and myself. I also recently bought a goat from the profits I have made”.
She also says that in addition to credit, she has benefited from training programmes instituted by WV for her group. These include training in financial management, family life education, childcare, environmental and personal hygiene, moral education etc. Her group is also embarking on a poultry project.
Her children, Ruby, Richard, Denis, Scooner, Kofi and David are witnesses to the complete turn of events in their home. They are still students of Selibga primary school in Bongo because their mother has managed to pay their school fees promptly. Eleven year old Ruby Napoka Salifu, the only girl among the six children, states that "my stay in primary four would have come to an end if my mother did not pay my school fees early. This would have been very disastrous for me. My mother used to find it hard paying the fees for my brothers and me but now she is doing fine. My mother has also bought me some new dresses and a beautiful shoe. This time I don't have to wear thorn clothes in the house".
"I don't go hungry any more like the days before. Now, I get to eat three meals a day and that is what matters to me most. Not only has the quantity of food increased in the house but the quality has also gone up", declares 12 year old Richard Salifu.
For all the assistance extended to them by WV, Akopoka Salifu is most grateful. " I am very grateful for the help because it has made me credit worthy. It has enabled me to expand my business and I pray for their continued support", she discloses.

Gundaa Methodist Needs Watsan Facilities

What strikes you as you travel to Gundaa is its distance. It is located a long way off from Tamale, where the CCFC Country Office is located. Another thing that strikes you as you make an entry into Gundaa community is its very narrow and dilapidated road, as well as the weedy nature of the community. Yet still, one more thing that hits you as you make entry is the very large and unmistakable dam located conspicuously within Gundaa.

Gundaa is located about 35 kilometres from Tamale on an unpaved road in the Tolon Kumbungu district of the northern region of Ghana. CCFC works in Tolon Kumbungu through the Baptist Child Development Program. It has a population of about 1 186 of which 562 are male and 624 are female. There are about 639 children located in Gundaa, out of which 151 are in school. Gundaa has only one school called Gundaa Methodist Primary School and only one source of drinking water, which is the dam. It has no sanitation facilities at all and that explains the weedy nature of the community. The community is listed among the most guineaworm endemic communities in Ghana whiles Ghana is rated second in the world, only behind Sudan, in terms of guineaworm infestation.

It is to this community of Gundaa that 10 year old Tahiru Haruna belongs. He is a grade four pupil of Gundaa Primary school and is happy to still be in school despite the challenges. “I am glad this year that I have not got down with guinea worm yet. Whenever I get guinea worm, I don’t go to school at all”, he reveals.

“My school has no source of drinking water so my friends and I rely on the water from the dam nearby. So when I am thirsty in school, I simply dash down to the dam to get a drink. I sometimes develop stomach from drinking the unwholesome water as well dysentery, diarrhoea and sometimes cholera. When this happens, I skip school and this affects my performace”, Haruna states.

The grade four pupil also discloses that “worst still, there are no sanitation facilities in the school so we use the nearby bush as a place of convenience. I know this is not good but there is no other place to go to. I am aware that some of this faecal matter washes into the dam and that is why most times I get sick”.

It is interesting to note that the dam that Haruna refers to is called Gundaa Lorni. It is an unguarded dam from which the whole community gets its source of water. Funny enough, members of the community use the overgrown bush around the dam as their place of convenience and this definitely washes into the dam. This accounts for the high incidence of cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea and guineaworm among members of the community. But children, especially school going children like Haruna, are the most affected when diseases strike. They are forced to miss academic work in school and thus their human potentials are not fully realised.

“I wish my school had a clean source of drinking water and some sanitation facilities. I would not have to run down to the river to drink water or use the nearby bush to defecate. When I run to the river to drink water, I come back tired and unable to concentrate in class. Also, when I develop stomach ache, diarrhea or some other water borne disease, I miss school for several days and weeks. This does not help me in my performance in school and this is hampering my ambition of becoming an academic professor in future”, Huruna says.

Speaking on the same subject, the headmaster of the school, Zakaria Iddrisu moans that “sometimes the school is almost empty of school children. They are either down with guineaworm, dysentery, cholera or diarrhea and this affects teaching and learning in the school. The teachers of the school themselves are not sparred. Consequently, the school’s performance is not encouraging and I do believe it is for some of these reasons that school enrolment by children in the community is low. If there was a way of stopping the children from going down to the river to drink whiles school was in session, then it would enhance our performance”.

“Another discouraging trend is there are greater numbers of pupils in the lower grades as compared to the upper grades. For instance, there are 68 pupils in grade 1 as compared to 12 pupils in grade 6. There are 25 in grade 2, 20 in grade 3 and 13 in grades 4 and 5. The numbers keep dwindling as the children climb up the grade ladder and this is attributable to the constant diseases they go through whiles in school”, the headmaster articulates.

Ten year old Tahiru Haruna is a member of the 13 pupils of grade 4 and everything should therefore be done within the means to keep him and his colleagues in school through the provision of potable water and sanitation facilities in their school.

Children's Home In Need of Aid

Anyone who meets two and a half-year-old, Humu Gariba for the first time is struck by her beauty. So it might be a little surprising to discover that she can not go out to any gathering because she lacks the appropriate attire. Indeed, it takes some time to find a decent dress for Humu in order to take some pictures of her.

Humu belongs to Tamale Children's Home in Nyohine, a suburb of Tamale. She was brought to the home when she was only three months old, after her mother died and her father could not be traced. Humu is currently attending nursery school within the premises of the home. The home has about 21 inmates - a number that varies since some of them are always adopted and their ages range from one month to 29 years old.

The sad story of Humu and the other deprived children of Tamale Children's Home is the fact that due to the poor location of the home, very little is known or heard about the plight of the inmates. Lack of donations from the public makes it difficult for the authorities of the home to clothe, feed and school the children.

Despite her inability to speak audibly, she manages to mumble a message. "Next time you come, bring me ­­a nice dress so I can go out with you."

Her pleas and the plight of the children of the home almost drew tears from World Vision staff and members of Tamale Tisung Leo club who visited the home recently. It became abundantly clear to them that the children needed adequate clothes. The supervisor of the home, Janet Yahaya, also said the home urgently needed bedding, thick clothing and blankets to protect the children from extreme cold.

The Tamale Children’s Home was established in 1969, when it first took in a set of triplets destined to be killed because they were considered a bad omen. The home was created to take care of motherless, abandoned and orphaned children.

The home is beset with a myriad of problems. It not only lacks any transport to get the children to hospital in an emergency but also has no phone or radio to communicate with the outside world, and no potable drinking water.

The home has just two small rooms that act as a nursery into which the children arc all crammed. "The atmosphere around the nursery is not congenial for learning," says Janet Yahaya. "The block in which the nursery is housed is shared with other staff who use it as a place for lodging. Our children are therefore forced to risk their lives by playing around where staff do their cooking because there is no suitable play ground. "

She adds that the nursery has no store, no toilet for the kids, no kitchen, no teaching aids, and no furniture or play equipment for the proper upbringing of our deprived children".

Janet is appealing to NGO's, churches, and individuals to come to the home's aid by helping them to construct a three-classroom nursery block for the kids. The home has vast amounts of land on which to build the nursery.

For now though, the biggest priority of the home is to find appropriate clothing for the children to keep the cold away from them. Only when the children are protected from the cold can they go to school.

Polluted Water Spreads Eye Disease

Looking at 7-year-old Imoru Alhassan's face today may give you the impression that he is weeping. The tears flowing from his eyes, however, are not due to any strong feelings of emotion, but due to a disease called trachoma. The tears are caused by fluid flowing from his eyes as a result of a condition that could make him blind and which could easily be spread to other members of his family. Thus, trachoma is known as a "family disease".

Washing his face daily with clean water could save Imoru from his weeping misery and possible blindness and the availability of clean water could completely eradicate the disease. But Imoru's village, located 6 kilometers from the district capital, is without any clean source of water.

Imoru hails from Laligu, which is listed among the endemic trachoma communities in the Savelugu Nanton district. The community is ranked 5th in descending order of trachoma prevalence in the district, out of about 40 listed communities. With a population of about 853 people, 27.7 percent of the population is infected with trachoma follicles according to the Ghana Trachoma Control Program. Nobody is spared from the disease; everyone in Laligu is at risk. However, children are most affected by trachoma.

To Imoru and members of his family, the provision of potable water is crucial to their survival. Their only source of water is polluted and not suitable for human consumption. They get their drinking water from a dam called Lorni, which is located about 2 kilometers from the community, and shared with 9 other communities.

Thankfully, Imoru has been cured of the disease. '"Now my eyes are better due to the medicine that World Vision provided for my use, but I am afraid I will get the disease again in the future if I don’t get clean water to wash my face every day." He added that he felt very uncomfortable when he had so much fluid flowing from his eyes due to trachoma but he could not get clean water to wash his eyes. Imoru is also afraid that the disease could spread and affect other members of his house, who number about 17 people.


Zakaria Alhassan, Imom's father, also reveals that "We just need a good source of water in this community to clear this disease and others from here." He was also quick to emphasise that his whole family was at risk of getting the disease since one member had already contracted it. He said he could not possibly afford the hospital bills for them if they contracted the disease. Mr. Alhassan however disclosed that he could easily provide clean water for them to wash their faces if potable water was made available in his community.

The people of Laligu have been made aware through education that one way of preventing trachoma is through keeping a clean environment and washing one's face with clean water every day. This is why the provision and availability of clean water in Laligu is so fundamental to Imoru and his parents as well as other members of their community.

School Kids Have Roof Over their Heads At Last

Now the over 120 school going children of Tanjameli in the Saboba Chereponi District of the Northern Region have a 95 million cedis roof over their heads for use as an Early Childhood Development Centre (ECD), thanks to funding from Christian Children's Fund of Canada in partnership with Tuma Kavi, a local NGO. It is made up of a two classroom block, a feeding centre and a play ground with play equipment.

Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC) is an international Canadian organization which works with local partners in 12 countries around the world to improve the standards of living of children, their needy families and communities. In Africa, CCFC works in four countries namely Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania. In Ghana, CCFC works in nine districts namely Tamale Metropolis, Savelugu-Nanton, Tolon-Kumbungu, East Gonja, Yendi, Gushiegu, Saboba-Chereponi and Nanumba North and Nanumba South districts.


Speaking at the commissioning of the school block, the country Director of Christian Children's Fund of Canada (CCFC), Madam Sanatu Nantogma stated that through Funding from CCFC “we aim to promote pre-school education and improve the academic performance of over 900 children in 5 nurseries, 5 primary and 2 Junior Secondary Schools in 9 communities, through the provision of school needs integrated with ECD programs. CCFC also aims to facilitate access to sustainable quality Functional Reflect Circles for 50 children who are not in school and to build the capacity of at least 4- community structures in 7 communities in resource mobilization, water and sanitation, gender and management of educational programs”

The Country Director added that it is the hope that when this is done, there would be a 25% increase in academic performance of children in school in Demon area, about 1,350 School children would have enough furniture to sit for effective learning and there would be a 25% increase in JSS students who obtain the required grades for entry into senior secondary school (each year).

She assured the people of Tanjameli and surrounding communities of increased support from CCFC till the year 2012.

The District Chief Executive for Saboba Chereponi District, Honorable Azumah N. Sanda on his part, revealed that education plays a pivotal role in the social, economic, political and development of a people and since it is so central to human development, section 25 of the 4th republican constitution recognizes it as a right.

He said it is for this reason that “the NPP government in its second term in office initiated the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Phase 2 which has among its main objectives to enhance human resource development that must be achieved through quality education and good health delivery. To be able to achieve this the government introduced certain educational measures such as the President’s Special Initiative on Distance Learning, the Capitation grant, the School Feeding Program, the 2007 New Education Reforms etc in order to ensure mass access to education and to enhance effective and efficient school administration as well as raise enrolment levels in schools especially in the lower primary”.

Honorable Azumah Sanda disclosed that the government has a policy to ensure that every primary schools has a pre-school attached to it but Saboba Chereponi district has about 36 pre schools as against 103 primary schools and which is very evident that the district still has s long way to achieve the target of attaching a pre school to each primary school in the district. The DCE appealed to parents especially those of Tanjameli to get all their children of school going age enrolled in school.

Elucidating on the essence of the ECD centre in Tanjameli, the Project Leader for Tuma Kavi, Mrs Katumi Fuseini, said about 80 percent of children between 4-5 years in northern Ghana, especially in the rural areas are usually not in school due to reasons such as inadequate classroom space for ECD, inadequate school furniture, teaching and learning materials, poor or no recreational/play equipment to stimulate child learning and poor or no pre-school feeding program. She said these problems pose a threat to child development and education as a whole hence the construction of the ECD centre in Tanjameli.

Ten Year Old Dying as a Result of Lump

A stitch in time, they say, saves nine and if this situation is stitched now, it will not only save the life of someone but will enable this innocent child remove the yoke of isolation and stigmatisation associate with him.

Such is the unfortunate predicament facing 10 year old Abdul Gafaru Ibrahim, a grade 5 pupil of Jantong Daashie school in the Presbyterian Farmers’ Training and Child Development Program of CCFC. Although he is not a sponsored child, he is in a sponsored school assisted by CCFC.

The third child of five children still manages to go to school even though he has had this condition for the past six months. It started as a small lump on his left cheek one early morning and has been growing bigger and bigger by the day. It is suspected to be a tumor although it has not been confirmed by medical experts yet. CCFC only got wind of it during a routine visit to sponsored children in his school.

‘I have lots of pain and difficulty in breathing’, he says. ‘I can’t eat much because I have pains when I eat and so I have started growing lean.

Wiping tears from his eyes, Gafaru reveals that he is able to take the pain and inability to eat but what he cannot stand is the isolation he now faces as a result of the ever growing lump in his cheek. ‘My mates now insult me and some are now afraid of me whiles some despise me. I used to walk to school with my friends and come back home with them but now they don’t bother to ask of me when going to school or when coming home. This has retarded my academic performance altogether. I sometimes don’t feel like going to school anymore’, he says.

‘I used to like playing ball with my friends but now I only watch from the sides as they play ball and I used to like singing a lot but now I can’t sing at all’, Gafaru adds. ‘I am appealing to anyone who can assist me get rid of this pain to come to my help so I can rejoin my friends in school as a happy boy’.

His father, Ibrahim Suley who is a farmer, says he can raise about GHC 50 and is appealing to CCFC or any philanthropist to come to the aid of his son. So far CCFC through its partner, PFTCDP, is spending a substantial mount of money to send him for a medical check up as a preliminary step.

The Scourge Of Guineaworm

Dracunculiasis, also called guinea worm, is an affliction that strikes fear and pain even among adults in the northern part of Ghana. It is all the more alarming and frustrating when this misery' affects children.
"My leg: hurts so much that I am unable to walk or play with my friends. I feel so frustrated and isolated because I can not run and play around with them," reveals Ibrahima Zuliha, a 9-year-old grade 5 pupil at Pishigu primary school who has guineaworm on her left leg. Though she has made it to school today, she cannot join her friends at play. She is also unable to concentrate properly in class because of the pain in her leg. Ibrahima's case is quite disheartening until one sees Abdulai Abukari. an 11-year-old grade 6 pupil of Pishigu primary school. He hasn't been able to attend school since both legs were crippled by guineawonn. "I can hardly walk around in the house, nor attend school because of the guineawonn. I am carried around wherever I want to go. I have missed so many of my friends and mates in school. It has made me lose a lot academically due to my absence from school for some time now," says Abukari "I know I am not the only one absent from school due to guineawonn. There are several children going through the same ordeal as me. It is usual with children at the school around this time of the year." Abukari also adds, "If only we could get rid of guineawonn from my community, so many children here would be happy to attend school every day. This would make our families and the entire community happy,"

While Abukari speaks, a housefly makes an attempt to feast on the sores on his guincaworm- infested legs. He quickly drives it away with a sweep of his hand. He is seated in front of his father's hut which is one of five huts in the compound. In the middle of the compound is a set of large stones used for cooking.

Abukari's mother, Fuseina Dahamani, 33, a bread seller, can be seen trying to prepare food for the family on the stones. She has just returned from the dam, the only source of drinking water for the people of Pishigu. The water from the dam, which she pours into two large jars outside one of the huts, is simply not wholesome for human consumption. It could easily pass for tea with a heavy dose of milk. "That is how our water looks yet we drink it," Fuseina 'says. "'We don't treat it before drinking. This has not spared us from guineaworm. We also use the same water for cooking and washing. We only pray and rely on the Lord to save us." "I am always down with guineaworm with all the pain yet 1 have to walk a mile to the dam to fetch water for the household chores," she says. As she attempts to stir some food on the fire, her husband Mahama Abdulai, a 38-year­ old tractor operator walks into the compound. He looks healthy and strong but says, "Nobody is free from guineaworm in this village. Sometimes my whole family of six including the baby is down with guineaworm. That is when you hear continuous weeping and wailing in this compound house because everyone finds it difficult bearing the pain", he says

"I must confess that although Malaria is treacherous, guineaworm can cause complete dislocation in a whole family. I have to sometimes borrow money to treat my family, which I find difficult repaying. I pray that something will be done to provide Pishigu with good drinking water," he appeals.

Pishigu is quite a big community, with 100 houses and a primary school. It is located 45 miles from Gushiegu, the district capital. Their main source of drinking water is a dam which dries up easily during the dry season. A visit to the dam shows various activities being carried out around it. Several women are seen washing clothing, with the used water flowing back into.
the dam. Some school children are also observed competing with cattle to quench their thirst through drinking the water from the dam. On the whole, the environment around the dam is filthy and littered with garbage.
There are over 100 communities like Pishigu in the Gushiegu district without potable drinking water. The absence of potable water has brought in its wake attendant problems such as guineaworm, trachoma and dysentery..
Until that is done, several communities in the district will continue to remain in misery. As Abukari Abdulai aptly puts it ‘when we get good drinking water here, l will be in school every day except when we are on holidays and so will all the children of Pishigu. My mother, father, family and everybody will be happy because there would be no more guineaworm in Pishigu and it will be a happier place to live."

Model Nursery School Brings Hope to Gushiegu

There is a story of a senior civil servant who was posted to Gushiegu ­Karaga District who refused to go, on the grounds that his children's education would suffer as a result. The civil servant argued that there were no good schools in Gushiegu­Karaga for his children to attend. He was right. GES records in the district show that the performances of Junior Secondary School (JSS) students in the district over the years have not been encouraging. This poor performance has also affected their results at the senior (SSS) level. Indeed, the cause of the abysmal performance can be traced right back to the nursery and primary schools.

However, 36-year-old Mariah Issah is determined not to let her five-year-old daughter fall victim to such circumstances. Mariah, a kulikuli (groundnut cake) maker, wakes up her daughter, Jemilatu Issah, at 6:30 a.m. each day of the week to prepare for school.
Jemila quickly wakes up and goes to fetch water to wash her face. She then cleans her mouth with a toothbrush and paste provided by her dad, Abdulai B. Issah, a worker with the Ghana Health Service in Gushiegu. Jemila then goes with her mother to fetch water from a well situated in the middle of their compound house to bath. After bathing, she goes to dress, whiles her mum busily prepares breakfast for her. Wearing her clean school uniform and neat boots, she quickly devours her breakfast and walks briskly to her school, located about 400 metres from her home.

Mariah knows that once her daughter Jemila is off to school, she has enough time to engage in her income generating activities (Kulikuli production). "Jemila would have been a big burden on me if she were not in school. I would not have had enough time to engage in my kulikuli work whiles she was around. I am particularly glad that she is in Ii good school and is getting the best of preschool education. I want her to grow up to become somebody in future," she says.

Jemila is fortunate enough to be a member of a pioneer model nursery school in Gushiegu. The school is aimed at giving children a head-start in their education, to combat the poor results in later years. Jemila goes to the nursery school along with 24 other children - 16 girls and nine boys. The model nursery school was set up by Gushiegu-Karaga Area Development Programme (ADP) and commenced in September, 2002/2003.
The school is currently housed in the ADP's resource centre. ADP Manager, Gladys Atiah. says the ADP decided to start the model school in thc resource ccntrc with just a few children. to ensure quality education. She said these children would be taken through primary, JSS and SSS level.
Gladys Atiah says each child paid 50 pesewas admission fees, and are paying a monthly feeding fee of 1 Ghana cedis. The ADP is helping supplement this with 2 cedis per child. The ADP Manager says the children are fed a balanced midday meal each day. She says the timetable of the school was designed by the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the ADP to include Arithmetic, English, Religious and Moral Education and Singing. "The medium of instruction in the nursery is mainly English with a bit of Dagbani. I can see that the children are picking up fast. Whiles some can speak 'English, others are able to understand because they can translate what they have been told in English into Dagbani," she adds.
One important criterion for selection in to the model nursery is. “a child should have a weighing card and a birth certificate. This is to enable the school keep track of the health and nutritional development of each of the children.
Gladys Atiah, affectionately called Madam Kpiemah (Senior Madam) by the children, explains that the next academic year will have 75 children, split into three streams, and the school will be called “Bob Pierce Model Nursery School”. She says by that time the present class of 25 children will be in primary school.
Fortunately the district assembly has given land to World Vision Ghana to construct structures for the model schools. The ADP hopes to complete phase one of a four classroom block with a store, kitchen and office by the end of August 31 this year.
The model nursery is generating a lot of interest and enthusiasm among residents of Gushiegu, judging by the over 300 applications that are lying on the ADP Manager's table. John Nantogmah, the Human Resource Development officer at the GES in Gushiegu, confirms this by admitting that the model nursery is a showpiece among others in the district. He says that although there are about five nursery schools in Gushiegu, these schools experience supervision problems as the number of children far outweigh the number of teachers. John Nantogmah adds that these schools lack proper teaching and learning materials and the school structures are not the standard GES structures. "The ADP in starting in a modest way by giving quality education to the preschool age group, will entice workers on transfer to accept posting to the district".
He adds that GES hopes to organise a workshop for day care givers in the district by involving the teachers of the model nursery school. Mr. Nantogmah also says that in collaboration with the District Assembly, GES will post qualified teachers and Rural Education Volunteers to teach in the model schools. .

A Helping Hand Bears Fruits

It is one thing to have the knowledge, and another to have the resources to make that knowledge work.
When Bongo Area Development Programme (ADP) presented equipment and materials to 23 graduating Youth Skill Training Programme (YSTP) students, the aim was to see them properly settled in their communities and earning a living.
The donation - which totaled about 3400 Ghana cedis (US$4,250) - was given along with a cash injection of 50 Ghana cedis (US$62). Now, as we go back to see how some of the graduates are faring, the benefits are obvious.
One of the beneficiaries is Philomina Ayipaala. The 20 ­year-old is doing well in her weaving business in Bongo and is helping train others for their future careers.
After receiving a loom with accessories. some yarn and some cash from Bongo ADP, she decided to set up her shop in Bongo to earn a living. The shop, which she shares with her mum, is situated just a stone's throwaway from the ADP office. She has on sale in her shop beautiful designs of hand woven cloth for those who can afford.
"I want to thank my sponsors for helping me to complete ATMA weaving centre and to acquire a skill. If it were not for their kindness, I would have ended up somewhere down south as a kayaayoo (head porter). But now I am getting an income for myself." she says.
Philomina has also taken on an apprentice to train free of charge. Benedicta Atanga was also a Youth Skill Ttraining Programme YSTP) student but could not .complete her training because of pregnancy. She dropped out. but after' giving birth to a child, decided to join Philomina to finish her training.
"I must thank Philomina for accepting to take me on as an apprentice even though she just started. Now I hope to complete my weaving course with her," says Benedicta
Philomina says she hopes to train five girls each year but complains about accommodation. "Accomodation is a problem here. My shop is too small to take on additional trainees. I share the place with my mother. Again, marketing is my number one problem. The market here is not yet established," she says.
Twenty- five-year-oId Regina Aura is another YSTP beneficiary who is doing well. She is currently running a canteen at the Catholic Social Centre in Bongo. After undergoing a rigorous selection process, she was selected to run the canteen because of the training in catering services she got from the Women's Training Institute in Bolgatanga. She has been running the canteen for the past 4 months. She operates the canteen from Monday to Saturday. For her menu, she has Banku and Tuo Zaafi (maize meals), rice balls, rice with stew and light soup for sale. According to her, she plans to include Fufu (pounded yam), plantain with beans and yam to her menu in the future.
"I am able to sustain the business with the profit I make daily. I am able to make in a good day about 30% profit. My customers mostly come from workers of the District Assembly who patronise my meals," Regina reveals.
Regina also has two girls under her tutelage. They are 25-year-old Azumah Adongo and 16-year-old Ama Ayolo who have come to learn catering to secure their future. "We have come to learn how to cook. When we finish, we will also start our own businesses and train others to become like us," they say. .

The Travails of the Voiceless Widows

They are among Ghana's voiceless and marginalised. Most of them are above the age of 50, and most have no surviving spouse. None of them is male. They are poor, vulnerable and have no rich relatives to support them. For these "crimes", they have been segregated and isolated from society, confined to a camp.

One of them is 63-year-old Sanatu Asulo, who has been at the camp for one ­and-a-half years. Her 26-year-old daughter Lukaya has come to visit her in the camp. For the past four months, Lukaya has come often with her two sons, just to keep her mother company.
Sanatu, who hails from Nyon Gumah, has five surviving children, out of I 0 births ­two sons and three daughters. Her ordeal began when her older sister's sick son, Ibrahim. accused her of being the cause. Despite exonerating herself through two grueling trials by ordeal, Sanatu's life was still in danger in her community.
Her own son, Sulemana, brought her to the camp for safety. Ibrahim, however, died long after she had left the community for the camp. But there was to be no reprieve for Sanatu.
"If my husband were alive, none of this would have happened," she says, weeping. "I have no choice but to accept my situation and wait till my relatives come for me."
Women in these camps suffer gross stigmatisation. Outsiders call them witches. but the women themselves deny it. They say they have been framed because of hatred and envy. "I am not a witch. I know nothing about Ibrahim's sickness or death," Sanatu says.
"I can tell you that my mum is not a witch," adds Lukaya, clutching her youngest son.
Another who has faced the painful stigmatisation is Maimunatu, who has been at the camp for a month. Tears stream down her eyes as we interview her. Her story is so harsh, she has to abandon it halfway.
The conditions of camp itself are nothing to write home about. It is situated in Kpatinga and located about 500 metres away from Kpatinga community itself. Inmates of the camp share nothing in common with the community. The camp used to be much bigger, but was vandalised during the 1994 conflict between the Dagombas and the Komkombas. Some of the inmates lost their lives.
An overlord, a man called Musah from Karaga, is the ieader of the Tindanzeei camp in Kpatinga, lording it over the 27 widows wh') live there. The women sleep on the bare ground, in round poorly-built huts. They provide labour (farming) for the landlord in return for the shelter he provides, but otherwise fend for themselves. They
experience various difficulties including lack of water and health care.
There are two other camps in Gushiegu-Karaga district, located in Gushiegu and Nayilfong. The Gushiegu camp is called "Ganaa" and has 7 inmates, while the camp in Nayilfong has 13.
This practice of segregating widows as witches is embedded in the male-dominated culture of the people. When women marry, they move into their husband's homes. In the event that their husband dies, they have to revert to their father's home where they can remarry. However. this is not possible when they are too old.
. Consequently. in their father's house. they have to be catered for by their brothers. That is where the conflict starts. Their brothers' wives see them as competing with them for the scarce resources, which are not available, of their husband. They are therefore seen as a burden to be gotten rid off.
The situation is ripe for any trouble. The absence of medical facilities means children will always fall sick. Once this occurs, the family put the blame on the poor old lady, and she is banished from the community and sent to the camp designated for witches.
World Vision Ghana in Gushiegu­Karaga discovered the plight of these unfortunate women and has been sending them Gifts in Kind (GIK), soap, clothing and is even planning to provide them mats to sleep on. The Area Development Programme (ADP) has also arranged with the Ghana Health Services to attend to them but the problem is the health workers are unwilling to visit them in their camp.
The long-term plan of the ADP is to resettle them or to reconcile them with their relatives. Indeed one of them has already been reconciled with her son through the efforts ofthe ADP.
She is Teni Dalabra who was ostracised for the past 24 years. She started of in the camp in Kpatinga but later run to the Ganaa camp when the war started in 1994. Due to her deteriorating health, the ADP visited her son, Sumani Dalabra, and convinced him to accept his mum back which he did. This was made possible because Sumani was able to put up his own house with which he settled his mum. The reconciliation process is ongoing and many more will be reconciled with their families.
The ADP is also planning to rehabilitate them by acquiring land to construct chalets for them.

Children’s Assembly held in Tolon-Kumbungu District

Over 1000 children drawn from 13 primary and Junior secondary schools in 6 communities of the Tolon Kumbungu district have attended a Children’s Assembly/ Pre Christmas Party held in Kasuliyili, organized by Baptist Child Development Program and sponsored by Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC) at a total cost of about 24 million cedis. The aim of the Children’s Assembly was to bring children from different schools and communities to interact with one another, exhibit their talents through poetry recitals, cultural displays, games and drama, which are the preserve of children living in cities, in order to build the confidence of the children to compete favorably with those in cities. It was also used as an opportunity to talk about Child Rights which is a problem in the communities in order to promote peace for development in those communities.Speaking at a durbar of parents, teachers and pupils organised to commemorate the Children’s Assembly, the Tolon Kumbungu District Director of Education, Yakubu Asani said that he was very thankful to the government for instituting the capitation grant to enable children of all classes to go to school. He therefore informed all parents to send their children to school because it was an offence not to send their children to school. The director advised the children not only to go to school but stay in school as well and cautioned teachers of the district to attend school regularly and not waste teaching time.The Programs Manager of CCFC, Paul Kofi Twene, on behalf of the Country Director stated that the children’s Assembly was very important because it is an opportunity for the children to participate in the activities and work of Baptist Child Development Program and CCFC because participation is an important aspect of the UN convention on the Rights of the Child. He said CCFC is interested in children participating because it is an international development organization addressing the needs of children in economically poor areas and is a member of ChildFund International — a child-focused alliance of international organizations who create significant changes in the lives of impoverished children, families, and communities, spending over $400 million U.S. in over 55 countries. At the end of it all, the children were treated to a hot meal of rice and some soft drinks. In a similar development, CCFC through its partners, Markas Al Bishara in the Tamale Metropolis and Presbyterian Farmers’ and Child Development Program in East Gonja district has feted on separate occasions about 8,152 children from 16 primary and Junior Secondary Schools to a Christmas party at a total cost of over 47 million cedis. Each child received biscuits, fan pop, fan yogo and kalyppo as part of the Christmas party.

17 Communities get Health Planning Service Compound

A forty five (45) thousand Ghana cedi Community Based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compound has been built and commissioned, through a collaborative partnership between Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), World Servants, Assemblies of God and Relief Services (AGREDS), Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Dapkam Community for the people of Dapkam in the Nanumba North District of the Northern Region.The CHPS compound will serve about 17 communities in and around Dapkam. For years the people of Dakpam and its environs had to cover several kilometres to Bimbilla or Salaga to visit a hospital for treatment and sometimes people succumbed to illnesses because of the distance and lack of money for transport. Whiles World Servants provided funds for the construction of the block, CCFC through its Nanumba Child Development Program with AGREDS assisted with a motor bike, a freezer, an 8 seater KVIP and a bath/urinary. It also provided 10 benches, 2 desks and chairs, some internal fittings such as doors, louvre frames and blades, ceiling fans and 5 beds to the facility at a cost of about thirteen thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC 13000).Addressing a durbar to mark the commissioning of the CHPS compound, the Executive Director of AGREDS, Joseph Wumbee stated that the CHPS compound stood as a proud landmark shoulder to shoulder with other CHPS compounds in the country. He said patients who were already visiting the compound were only the first of many people who would benefit from the health care facility. The Executive Director added that the facility, built with funding from World Servants and assistance from CCFC, would serve all people irrespective of socio-political affiliation.Speaking on behalf of the Country Director of CCFC, the Communications Manager of CCFC, Justin Bayor, said that the CHPS compound was a reflection of the fact that partnership and collaboration yielded great dividends to communities, women and their children. He stated that the compound was a manifestation of great collaboration between CCFC, AGREDS, World Servants, MOH and Dapkam without which it would never have come into fruition. The Communications Manager called for greater collaboration between institutions and communities to bring wonderful projects like the Dakpam project to deprived communities.The Nanumba North District Director of Health, Madam Tia on her part, revealed that the CHPS compound in Dakpam will enable the GHS deliver quality door to door service to the people of Dakpam and its neighbouring communities. She commended the Regional health directorate for their immense contribution towards the establishment of the CHPS compound in Dakpam and advised the community to patronise the facility.

Hand Washing Organised to Mark World Water Day

Christian Children’s Fund of Canada in collaboration with its partner organisation, Tuma Kavi has organised a hand washing workshop for over 100 members of its Child to Child Health and Environmental clubs drawn from three communities in the Savelugu Nanton district in order to mark World Water Day. The day which was marked under the theme “Sanitation Matters” was used to highlight the importance of keeping our environment clean. World water day is a day set aside to bring global and local attention to issues of water stress,water-related disasters and poor water quality. Lack of safe water and adequate sanitation is the world’s single largest cause of illness. World Water Day is a therefore a unique opportunity to draw attention to the crisis and to create momentum that compels goverments, the international community, civil society and individuals to take action.Over 2.6 billion people, including 980 million children, live without proper sanitation and every 20 seconds on average, a child dies as a direct result. Poor basic hygeine practices, especially among children, are a major contributing factor to these deaths. Diarrhieal diseases, a direct result of poor sanitation and hygiene, kill over 1 million children every year. Simple, proper hand-washing with water and soap or ash can reduce the incidence of the disease by up to 50 percent.The children were taught lessons on proper hand washing techniques, lessons on the use of new hand washing stations before eating and lessons on how to build low cost hand washing stations. The aim was to let them act as catalyst for initiating student-led suatainable hand washing programs in schools and reduce in the incidence of diarrhoea. Speaking to the particiapants of the workshop, the Leader of the District Health and Sanitation Team of Savelugu-Nanton district, S.I Tahiru, reminded the children to keep their environment clean and to always wash their hands regularly. The Team Leader said it was not only important for them to wash their hands regularly but also wash their hands with soap, most especially after visiting the toilet. He said if they washed their hands properly with soap, they would reduce the diseases that affected them by 30 percent.The Country Director of Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), Sanatu Nantogma said that children are the top priority of CCFC and so the organisation shall consistently advocate for the right of children through providing their needs, protecting them against abuse of any form and making them participate in decisions and actions that affect them. She stated that “encouraging children to wash hands as it is being done today is a step towards reducing dysentery, diarrhoea and trachoma, which are water borne and water related diseases”. The Country Director added that "choosing a day as today to hold this workshop for the Child To Child (CTC) groups is a very good way of commemorating World Water Day, especially focusing on children as a way of propagating the message on sanitation and hand washing". At the end of the workshop, CTC groups were given practical lessons on how to wash their hands properly with soap.

Sixty Mothers Undergo Wean-mix Training

Gumani Child Care and Family Helper Program (GCCFHP) of Markaz Al Bishara in conjunction with its main funding partner, Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), has organized a day’s wean-mix training for 60 mothers from six communities in the Tamale Metropolitan Area. The training was prompted in part by the realization by GCCFHP that some mothers in their program area were preparing wean-mix flour under unhygienic conditions and were akin to preparing only one type of wean-mix flour. It was also realized that some mothers were not using the right proportions of foodstuff to prepare their wean-mix flour.Thus at the training, the mothers were schooled on how to prepare three different types of wean-mix flour from a combination of maize, soya bean, millet, beans, groundnut and herrings in the right proportions and under hygienic conditions. Speaking further on the purpose of the training, a nurse from the District Health Management Team of the Tamale Metropolitan Health Directorate, Madam Faustina Vimaraba, said that the training was to teach the mothers how to use cheap and locally available foodstuff to prepare wean-mix flour and to teach them how to combine these foodstuff in a proportionate manner to obtain the best wean-mix flour. She said the training also taught the mothers the importance of wean-mix to the growth of their children as well as the need to combine cereals and legumes to make the wean-mix flour. Speaking on the essence of the training, the Country Director of CCFC, Sanatu Nantogma, said that CCFC focuses more on children and to achieve the target, CCFC gives more direct benefits to children who are the top priority. The Country Director stated that CCFC consistently advocates for the rights of children through providing their needs, protecting them against abuse of any form and encouraging them participate in decisions and actions that affect them. Madam Sanatu Nantogma added that “It is for this reason that this wean-mix training is very crucial to us because we cannot attain our objectives if the children in the communities where we operate are malnourished and unhealthy. The end result that we expect from this training is for the children in our communities to be well nourished and healthy”.After the training the mothers were taught how to prepare porridge and Apapransa (local meal) from the flour. A beneficiary of the training, Maame Zakaria of Gumani community revealed that the training was good because it would not only improve the health of her two and a half year old son Abdul Rauf, but would keep her entire family healthy and strong. She said she learnt new methods of making wean-mix flour and what measurements to use when making her flour. The mother added that “I am a petty trader and now I can make wean mix porridge to sell for an additional income”. In another development, CCFC through its partner, Markaz Al Bishara in Gumani Child Care and Family Helper Program (GCCFHP), has made a donation worth over a thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢1,000) to the Mabihigu Association in Tamale. Mabihigu Association, with a membership of 170, is an association of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWH) based at Sherkinah clinic in Tamale. The donation comprised the payment of Five Hundred Ghana Cedis (GH¢500) to the Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) unit of the Tamale Teaching Hospital to cover drugs for 100 of their members in Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) for one month and 20 bags of rice worth about five hundred Ghana cedis (GHC 500) for distribution to members of their group. Receiving the donation, the President of the Association, Kofi Tetteh, expressed his profound appreciation to CCFC and GCCFHP for the kind gesture extended to the group and assured that the donation would be used in the best way possible to the benefit of their members.